Breaking: Financial Firms Act as Unchecked Censors, New Book Reveals
A U.S. citizen teaching Persian poetry online suddenly finds his PayPal and Venmo accounts frozen—unable to receive payments or access his own money. The reason? His transactions triggered a broad interpretation of U.S. sanctions on Iran, sanctions meant to block weapons funding, not poetry lessons.
This is not an isolated case. Former EFF Activism Director Rainey Reitman, in her new book Transaction Denied, documents dozens of similar incidents where financial companies have silenced individuals and organizations with little transparency or recourse. As Reitman warns, “We are letting banks and payment apps become de facto judges of what we can say and read.”
“Both a storyteller and an advocate, Rainey exposes hidden systems of power that shape our choices, our speech, and, ultimately, our society.” — Cindy Cohn, EFF Executive Director
The Scale of the Problem
The book details cases that span from an elected Muslim city councilwoman in New York whose Venmo payment was blocked because of a restaurant name, to hubs for erotic storytelling losing their payment accounts repeatedly. Others active in drug legalization struggles also face routine bank account closures.
Reitman argues these are not one-off glitches but a pattern of “financial censorship” driven by arbitrary corporate policies, overbroad interpretations of law, or pressure from anti-speech groups. The people affected are diverse: authors, teachers, journalists, and politicians suddenly losing access to funds without explanation.
Background: A Decade of Quiet Suppression
Reitman, who left EFF in 2022, spent over a decade documenting how financial intermediaries stifle speech. Her book reveals that U.S. sanctions on nations like Iran—designed to target weapons development—instead snare poetry professors and restaurant transactions affecting Muslim communities.
The book also serves as a guide for activists. It covers successful campaigns to reverse account freezes, including restoring Stripe access for Nifty Archive (a queer erotic storytelling site) and PayPal access for Smashwords (a self-publishing platform). These victories show that organized advocacy can counter corporate censorship.
What This Means: Free Speech Under Tech-Financial Rule
The growing power of companies like PayPal, Venmo, and Stripe to block transactions based on content presents a serious threat to free expression. Without legal accountability, these firms effectively act as unregulated censors, deciding who can participate in the economy based on speech.
Reitman’s work highlights an urgent need for reform. As she states, “If financial companies can arbitrarily cut off funding for legal speech, then the First Amendment becomes meaningless for millions.” The book provides both a warning and a playbook for those fighting to keep financial systems open.
- Key takeaway: Payment freezes are often speech-related, not based on fraud or illegal activity.
- Call to action: Advocates must pressure regulators to enforce transparency and due process for account suspensions.